


Flower Petals

by Kaoru_chibimaster



Series: Gladnoct Week 2017 [4]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Adoption, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gladnoct Week, Kid Fic, M/M, Married Couple, Noctis Lives, Princess - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 11:22:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12863442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaoru_chibimaster/pseuds/Kaoru_chibimaster
Summary: A princess doesn't have to be born with a silver spoon in her mouth.





	Flower Petals

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt "Princess" had no context behind it whatsoever, so I ran with it.

When Noctis miraculously came back from the dead, Gladio wondered how it could be so. Noctis had no answer for him. Perhaps it was the will of the gods that he die and be reborn. Perhaps he wasn’t meant to remain in eternal rest.

When Noctis started to rebuild Insomnia and heal the world of its scars, Gladio wondered how long it might take. Noctis shrugged his shoulders and gave him a noncommittal answer. A year for the city, perhaps. A year and it would be functioning again. Not completely fixed, no that would take decades, but in a year people could start working and living and enjoying the sun instead of sweating under it as they rebuilt their homes.

When a year passed and Noctis found himself slowly falling into his more typical kingly duties, ones that didn’t involve reconstruction, Gladio asked what he would do for a wife now that Lunafreya was gone. Noctis, endearingly and somewhat awkwardly, fell to a knee and asked for his shield’s hand. Flustered as Gladio was, as much as his mind screamed at him to say no, to know his place, he accepted on the spot.

When the engagement passed, and the wedding was celebrated and the honeymoon thoroughly enjoyed, Gladio asked what Noctis would do for an heir to the throne. Noctis replied firmly that he intended to stay by Gladio’s side and would not go off looking for a woman to conceive with. He went over succession rites with Ignis for weeks until they could, without a doubt, determine that an heir to the throne did not need to be born of the king. Only the crystal’s power needed to be passed down by blood. And with the crystal no more, this was hardly an issue.

And so the couple had found themselves in Lestallum only a few months after their marriage, on the steps of an orphanage. The middle aged couple that took care of the children, overworked and stressed looking and clearly finding an outlet for their own losses, had quickly ushered them into the repurposed shop. Noctis had, at the time, been almost adamant to take all of the children in, determined to see each and every single one of their skinny little selves fed and happy. Gladio was quick to remind him that they would actually have to be parents to all of those children, and that they couldn’t just take them back and dump them somewhere and let servants take care of them. ‘One would do for now’ he’d said. They’d try their hand at taking care of one child first and then go back for another if they so felt. In the meantime, the other children would have chances to find other homes. And if not? Noctis would be sure to bring up to Ignis later the possibility of relocating the orphanage to Insomnia. Or at the very least, sending the one in Lestallum a large donation. The latter was the more plausible idea. Lestallum was more accessible to the residents of most Lucian regions. Cavaugh happened to be disconnected from the rest of the continent and thus it would have likely been harder for those other children to be adopted.

Satisfied with at least bringing home one child to call their own, they soon met with the children to find the one that might connect with them. No need in forcing any of them to go with Noctis and Gladio. And there weren’t any babies to bring home. Some were adopted, and some…some just never made it past those first few weeks of life. The ones that did were older, the results of parents who either never made it to Lestallum or left the city and never returned. A few of them were the children of hunters whose dog tags had yet to be collected. They ranged from a number of ages, a few of them in their teens and some of them still in pull-ups. Noctis had found one of them curled up in the back of one of the rooms, silent and sullen. She kept her head, covered in wispy black ringlets, turned away from the door, not answering when he spoke to her.

Not wanting to leave her all on her lonesome, he chose to sit down beside her quietly, offering comfort with his presence. She was small, looked no older than three, and yet she was so closed in on herself. Hunched in a near fetal position, she kept her olive toned arms wrapped tightly around herself. When Gladio ducked under the doorway, wondering where his husband and king had wandered off to, he found the somber scene. Not wanting to disturb the girl, he too quietly sat down in front of her and Noctis. They stayed like that for what must have been half an hour before curiosity got the best of the girl and she peeked up at them both with large, watery black eyes. She looked Insomnian. Likely, her parents had either escaped during the Fall, or evacuated after the scourge blotted out the sky.

It wasn’t hard to guess what happened to them considering the fact that the girl was in an orphanage in the first place.

Softly, Gladio asked the girl’s name. She spoke in a quiet, airy voice.

“Hana.”

Flower. Fitting for the new child of an Amicitia, Noctis would later think. She hadn’t gone with them immediately, far from it. She was wary of them at first, unsure of what their interest in her was. They’d wondered exactly what she’d been through before she was taken into that orphanage, to cause such a negative reaction to strangers. But slowly, after multiple visits to the orphanage to see her, she’d warmed up to them. And it hadn’t taken very long afterwards for them to eventually sign the papers to adopt her.

She was a classic rags to riches story. Literally.

When they’d driven her into Insomnia, she’d been wearing a patched up, oversized shirt with a hand-me-down belt cinched around her waist as a makeshift dress, having been too small to wear a real one passed down from the older girls and too poor to own her own. She’d looked out into the city in awe, having never seen a place so big or buildings so tall. Even after the expansion, Lestallum never quite reached the might and majesty of Insomnia. Though it was still being fixed up, it was vibrant with life two years after the dawn. She’d looked around in wonder as they walked her into the citadel. When dinner time arrived, it had taken nearly twenty minutes of coaxing to convince her that the food on her plate was hers, and when she picked up her fork with tiny, shaky fingers, she’d nearly inhaled every scrap as if she hadn’t eaten in her entire lifetime. And then sat frozen as a maid dutifully wiped the mess off of her chin, unsure of how to react. When she’d been presented her bedroom, prepared for her the moment Gladio and Noctis had settled matters with the orphanage owners and decided that they wanted to adopt her, she’d fallen into her bed and started sobbing. She hadn’t been sad however. She couldn’t quite convey it in words, too young to know exactly what to say, but she’d been crying in gratitude.

Now at five years old, she’d quickly grown used to her new lifestyle. Her nightmares had slowly started to fade, making way for joyful dreams of her newfound family. Her tattered clothes had long since been switched out with black silks and jewel encrusted garments and frilly, fluffy dresses that swished as she skipped down the citadel halls. Her rudimentary education in Lestallum was quickly corrected with palace tutors and the king and his shield learned quickly that she was incredibly sharp. And eager to learn on top of that. She was a marvel to everyone in the citadel. And everyone in the city, once their new princess was presented to them.

It hadn’t escape the residents how healthy she looked now as well. Her skin was no longer pale with stress, her hair no longer thinning as it now reached her waist in thick curls, her eyes no longer dull, and her nervous habits all but dissipated. She no longer jumped at every sound. She no longer crawled into her parents’ bed with tear-stained cheeks.

Not that she no longer crawled into her parents’ bed at all. Grinning mischievously, she pranced lightly over to the double doors of the king’s chambers. She knew full well that her daddy slept in way past morning, and that her papa let him because he was too indulgent to force him out of bed. At least before noon. Hana wasn’t nearly that careful. She was an early riser, up with the sun and dressed and fed soon after. And an energetic morning person on top of that. Uncle Ignis and Uncle Prompto thought it was precious. So did papa. And technically her daddy did too, but he wasn’t the most enthused about being reminded of it so personally. So, naturally, she sought to do exactly that.

Pushing one of the doors in, she peeked inside to find both of her fathers sleeping peacefully. Eight in the morning, last she’d heard. Though she wasn’t sure how long ago that was. She’d lost interest in the conversation between the citadel workers quickly when she realized that none of it was kid oriented. Boring stuff about the weather and their work for the day. Nothing she needed to worry about.

Slipping inside, she tiptoed over to the bed, wondering if she might get away with pouncing on them. Or at least one of them. Looked like her target would have to be her papa. His frame was too big to allow her to get at both of them at once. Quieting her breath, she bent her knees, coiled her muscles, clawed her fingers…

And jumped.

Gladio jerked dramatically at the feel of a child on his back, gasping as he turned over and captured her giggling form.

“What’s this? Attacked by a little monster? In my own bed?” he shouted, uncaring if he disturbed Noctis. It was about time the king got out of bed anyway.

Having known Hana was present the moment she’d opened the door, he only laid in wait for her inevitable pounce, ready to indulge the child in her fun and games.

“I, the king’s shield, shall protect him from this threat,” he continued, wiggling his fingers against her belly and laughing along with her loud, gleeful shrieks.

“I’m not a monster! Daddy, help!” she giggled, squirming in her father’s grasp. Noctis slowly rolled over, smiling at their antics before swatting lightly at Gladio’s hand.

“No. Don’t. Stop.”

Gladio paused for a moment, snorting.

“That your best effort?”

“Well it worked, didn’t it?” Noctis pointed out, indicating the stillness of Gladio’s fingers. Hana quickly took the opportunity to pull out of Gladio’s grasp, clinging instead to Noctis as he sat up and pulled her into his arms.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered to her. “I know all of Papa’s tickle spots. You’ll get your revenge soon.”

Hana nodded along eagerly and Gladio shook his head at them both.

“Alright, alright,” he sighed. Pointing a finger at Noctis, he was quick to spur him out of bed. “Time for _you_ to get your clothes on and your day started, Your Majesty.”

He looked to Hana then, his smiled widening and his gaze softening.

“And as for you, Princess…” Hana sat at attention as she was addressed, eager to hear her father’s next words. “How’s a day out in the city sound?”

When Noctis finished taking a shower and dressing himself, Gladio asked him that same question. Noctis picked Hana up and held her on his hip, easily nodding along in agreement. The royal family spent their day out among the people, sightseeing and wandering about. Hana walked between both of her fathers, holding their hands and smiling. She was happy.

They were happy.


End file.
